Nevada Cracking Door to Marijuana Tourism

By
Trevor Hughes, USA Today
on November 18, 2014

Starting early next year, tourists with a medical marijuana card from their home state can buy pot while visiting Las Vegas and other Nevada cities.

A handful of other states offer similar reciprocity, including Rhode Island and Maine, but Nevada is the first major tourist-destination state to honor other states’ systems, industry experts say. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates that nearly 40 million people visit Sin City annually.

“It is a city of recreation, the city that invented the $5,000 bottle of vodka,” said Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech, which has secured eight Nevada dispensary licenses. “It’s the adult playground in the United States. That’s Las Vegas’ model.”

The decision by state lawmakers to let tourists buy pot legally while visiting Nevada further opens the doors to marijuana tourism across the country. Colorado and Washington state already allow anyone to buy small amounts of pot, and at least one study has shown tourism interest in Colorado has skyrocketed since recreational sales began Jan. 1. Alaska and Oregon in the fall election legalized recreational marijuana sales and use, and Washington, D.C., legalized possession.